Saturday, December 29, 2007

Just like a tourist

After a very busy semester and Christmas, Jarrett and I decided to spend a few days in Chicago doing all the fun things that keep the tourists coming to Chicago. We started out going to Macy's to see the giant tree. But even more impressive than than was the bedazzled old lady playing the grand piano in the lounge. She must have been 80 or more (I actually saw her 4 years ago too!), and she knew hundreds of songs by heart. When we caught up with her, another lady was singing along to "Dradle, dradle, dradle."

Then, we ate lunch at the Walnut Room - the dining room surrounding the giant tree.

After lunch (Crab cake BLT, Lobster Bisque, and Creme Brulee - Mmmm), we went to Daley Bicentennial Plaza for ice skating. It's just across Columbus Drive from Millennium Park, but much less crowded and $2 cheaper, too!

Finally, we headed home for a bit of a rest, then went to Catherine's favorite cafe, Julius Meinl. It's a Viennese coffee shop with only one U.S. store - in Chicago. Live music, a melange, and a fantastic cheese plate topped off the evening.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Monday, December 24, 2007

Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet!

This morning, I went hunting for the third time in my life. My father-in-law and I (plus his hunting buddy, Steve) went out into the woods and sat in trees for three hours starting at 6:00 a.m. I saw nothing but a field mouse and two woodpeckers (and a partridge in a pear tree). But, I'm really enjoying it, actually, and looking forward to the day when I actually see something plus I can shoot it! It was capped off with a nice breakfast at the "Potato Shak".

It's Christmas Eve, and we're keeping busy. Well, Catherine is - I've resigned myself to the sofa, mostly to stay out of the way. Lots of baking, errand-running, and carpet-cleaning going on. But, it all smells good, and dinner's in only three hours!

Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 21, 2007

This Car Gives Me a Headache!


In the next chapter of the never ending saga that is my car, I now can't even get rid of the thing for another month! Not even if I wanted to and if there were a waiting buyer with just the right amount of money. Nope - because my title has an error in it, and Springfield won't be able to fix it for at least a month. Maybe more, what with the holidays and all. You see, when I originally applied for my title, I indicated that the odometer read 11,061 miles (which is correct), but somewhere things got lost in translation, and what ended up on my actual title was 1,061 (wrong!). But, who ever checks that? Well, you should, because now I can't sell the car - even to CarMax - because of the error in the title. It looks like I tried to set back the odometer 10,000 miles, so I have to get it fixed.

Sounds simple enough, but nothing ever is. If there's one thing I hate about Chicago, it's the bureaucracy. Nothing can ever be simple, and nothing can be done quickly. I went to the Secretary of State today, only to have three employees either not know what to do (which is okay, they could just direct me to someone who does), tell me the wrong thing to do (also okay, if they're honestly mistaken, but I sensed it was in an effort to come up with a quick get-out-of-my-hair answer), or shuffle me around endlessly. Finally, I got Evelyn. Evelyn, I salute you - you took time to really help me with my problem, and even called Springfield to make sure you were right.

Anyway, that's not the first of problems I've had with my car. For one, the license plate on my car has been stolen FIVE TIMES! I've never heard of anyone having their license plate stolen, much less five times! Plus, all of the windows were smashed out one night (save the driver's side ones), but nothing was taken from inside. Another time, someone ran a tire iron through the trunk. Then, there was the time someone tried unsuccessfully to break in by breaking the door handle. Finally, the driver's side window was shot out (there's a bullet indentation on the door to mark the occasion). Not to mention the countless parking tickets and violations I've gotten (my fault, yes, but still...).

So, now I'm trying to get rid of the thing. It's just a hassle, and we don't really need the added cost of an extra car anyway. So, anyone interested in a (possibly) cursed vehicle?

All Done!

Well...almost. I'm done anyway. I took my last final on Wednesday, and, as Catherine pointed out, I'm 5/6 of the way done with law school! Very teacher(ish) of her. I don't go back until the third week in January!

Today is Catherine's last day before her Christmas break, which, of course, means wild kids thinking of nothing but Christmas and having two full weeks off. We'll be heading out to Rockford tomorrow to spend Christmas and a few days with her family. Then, back to Chicago for a little down time before heading down to Tennessee after the New Year's to have Christmas with my family. Lots of traveling, but this is our last ever big Christmas break together, so we're taking advantage of it.

In other news, there's a new Chicago Housing Authority requirement that residents will have to work 15 - 20 hours a week to remain eligible for housing. This requirement will also be extended soon to the thousands who receive section 8 vouchers to subsidize their rent. Obviously, this will affect HUGE numbers of people. Read about it here.

Finally, you know it's Christmas in Chicago when that big house on Logan Boulevard lights up again. This house is so covered in lights from the roof to the sidewalk, that, I'm sure, it drains the whole neighborhood of any extra power. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like light up reindeer and levitating poinsettias.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Sometimes I wonder

Today I was driving home from school, and I saw a man get beat up and robbed. He was an old man, walking north on Pulaski at Augusta (five blocks from my house), and these two teenagers just walked right up to him, pushed him down, kicked and punched him, then stole his stuff and ran off into the alley. I was shocked, and it really took a while for it all to sink in. I called the cops, pulled over, and stood with the guy 'til someone came. I talked to the cops and paramedics, who were all really great people, actually.

But this was five blocks from home! Normally this stuff doesn't faze me much (which is sad). Maybe it was because I actually called the cops that it hit me more, but I kept thinking this very easily could have been me - or worse, my wife! I walk home from the train up Pulaski all the time. And everyone tells me not to do it or at least asks if I'm afraid, and I've never been afraid. I get yelled at sometimes, and people will mumble things under their breath (actually heard - "I'm gonna beat yer white ass" once), but it's never made me afraid that anyone would actually do anything. But, today, I'm really affected...
Last night, we had house dinner at our house. Every week, the whole house (including honorary lifetime members - Byron) gets together in one of the apartments for house dinner. When we're all there, there's seven of us. Each family brings something - main dish, salad, side item, dessert, or drinks.

Yesterday, we had Christmas dinner instead and invited a few friends. We had 11 people crowded into our dining room! It was great. We took a few before pictures, but sadly, we didn't take any pictures of the actual dinner. Too busy enjoying it, I suppose.

I do love house meals. It's a great time to intentionally catch up with one another, relax over a meal, and enjoy a good controversial topic or two (thanks, Emily). Last night was particularly nice. It's good to be with friends, and it's good to be reminded of those times when conversation is perfect, the roast beef tastes so good, and everyone enjoys each other. The Runyans blogged about it too. You can read their post here.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

We don't see many movies these days. I don't know why. Or if we do, we see them at the second-run theater close to our house, the Logan. I actually really like that place - it's an old-style movie theater and shows only cost $3. Or, we'll rent something from the Red Box or Blockbuster. Last night we saw this French movie we rented from Blockbuster - "Blame it on Fidel." It was worth watching.

Last weekend, we saw "Lars and the Real Girl." It has a sort of...questionable (?) premise, we initially thought, but after seeing it -- it was a really great movie. Lars (Ryan Gosling) is suffering under a delusion that this "doll" is his new fiance Bianca. Lars' brother Gus has a really hard time dealing with it, because to help him out, they're supposed to go along with it, pretend she's real. There's a lot about Lars growing up and becoming a man and what a difficult journey that is for him. One scene, I thought, was particularly good. Lars and his brother have a strained relationship, but throughout the movie, they're growing closer together as Lars is sort of growing up. This scene was sort of their turning point:

Lars: I was talking to Bianca, and she was saying that in her culture they have these rites of passages and rituals and cermonies, and, just all kinds of things that, when you do them, go through them, let you know that you're an adult? Doesn't that sound great?
Gus: It does.
Lars: How'd you know?
Gus: How'd I know what?
Lars: That you were a man
Gus: Ahhh. I couldn't tell ya.
Lars: Was it... okay, was it sex?
Gus: Um. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's uh, yeah, yeah it's kind of - it's uh - no. Well, it's kind of sex but it's not uh, you know? I don't know. I don't know. It's - uh - good question, good question.
Lars: Yeah, but I have to know
Gus: [dryer buzzes] Hold that thought.
Gus: [in basement] You know, you should ask Dagmar [Lars' shrink/doctor]
Lars: I did ask Dagmar. And she said that I should ask you.
Gus: Okay, you know I can only give you my opinion.
Lars: That's what we want
Gus: Well, it's not like you're one thing or the other, okay? There's still a kid inside but you grow up when you decide to do right, okay, and not what's right for you, what's right for everybody, even when it hurts.
Lars: Okay, like what?
Gus: Like, you know, like, you don't jerk people around, you know, and you don't cheat on your woman, and you take care of your family, you know, and you admit when you're wrong, or you try to, anyways. That's all I can think of, you know - it sound like it's easy and for some reason it's not.


Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Do Students Shed Their First Amendment Rights at the School House Gate?

I'm finishing up my senior paper for my First Amendment Seminar class (finally!). Before you can graduate, you have to take a seminar class on some area of law that interests you. I took the First Amendment Seminar more for the professor who was teaching it. He's an excellent teacher, who is incredibly knowledgeable on the Constitution. He was my Constitutional Law teacher my first year, and I really enjoyed his classes (though he scared the crap out of me - he'd randomly call on people to lead class discussion, and if you weren't prepared, he didn't move on - he'd stick with you, prodding you throughout the class).

Part of the seminar class requires writing a law review-type article on a more narrow topic of law that stems from the broader course subject. I'm writing on public school students and their freedom of speech. It's a pretty relevant topic, because this past summer, the Supreme Court just handed down a decision in Morse v. Frederick, only their fourth-ever case dealing with student speech rights at school. Maybe you heard about it? It all centered around this sign: "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS." A group of students in Juneau, Alaska attended the Olympic torch rally as it came through their town and held this banner to attract the attention of the television cameras. They had been given permission (along with the rest of the school) to attend the rally during school hours as a school-sponsored outing (sort of). The high school principal quickly ordered the students to put the banner down, and all but one student did so. Joe Frederick kept holding the banner, asserting his First Amendment rights to speak at school. He was suspended for it.

Okay, so the message is a bit...idiotic? Not at all eloquent, complete nonsense, and not a very important message to try to assert your First Amendment rights on, but was he right? Did he have a right to hold that banner? The Supreme Court didn't think so. They found in favor of the school principal, finding that she "reasonably interpreted the sign to be a promotion of illegal drug use."

Now, maybe you find the sign offensive, or at least really stupid and embarrassing to have your town identified with on national television. But, is it really promoting illegal drug use? I don't know. Frederick said it was a nonsense sign, meant to evoke a strong reaction and attract attention, but not meant to encourage drug use. And would any student read this sign and be likely to try drugs as a result? And what does this do for student speech? If now it's permissible for a school to suspend a student for a statement like this one that arguably means nothing, but references a drug phrase, what else is permissible? What about honest discourse on the legalization of marijuana? Suspendable conversation?

Or maybe this is necessary to control the classroom environment and ensure that students aren't exposed to disturbing or offensive ideas. What do you think?

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Friday night we had people over to "celebrate" the fellowship. Mostly, it was just an excuse to have a party and see our friends. It was a lot of fun - I felt like it was one of those parties where there's different groups of friends all mingling together. I think that makes a party a success. Sadly, we took no pictures. We've really got to get in that "blogging" state of mind so we can get some real pictures of our life up here. Then, last night was our church's Christmas party. Always a lot of fun. We enjoyed hanging out with our friends, and we even met a few new people, too. And we had Christmas ham!

In other news, I've done zero things to study this weekend. But I find excellent ways to waste my time here and here (thanks for that one, Nate).

Friday, December 7, 2007


Winter is a hard time to blog. For one, we just got a massive snowstorm this week - lots of shoveling snow (for my landlords, anyway - thanks, Bill & Eric), digging the car out, and pre-warming the car so Cath can get to work. It just snowed a little bit more last night, which is actually kinda nice, because it keeps the snow looking clean and white. Soon, it will all be a slushy, gray mess. Such is winter.

In other news, you should check out this blog. The folks at Facets Multi-media are posting one holiday movie clip a day on their blog for the whole Christmas season. I can't personally vouch for the quality of the films posted, but they usually have pretty good taste.

In a similar vein, as I'm overwhelmed in studying for law school finals right now, I'm posting a video of what I wish I could do...sometimes.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Fellowship

A few months back, I applied for a fellowship that would allow me to keep working at the place I've been volunteering (Legal Aid Bureau) for another two years as a staff attorney. I'd be manning my own project, which I designed, and would be paid a salary, benefits, and even have access to a loan repayment program at the end of my fellowship, which would be huge! This would be a great gig for several reasons -

1) I've wanted to work in public interest since I started law school, and this would allow me to do that;
2) It's really hard to get a job in public interest law, especially in Chicago; and
3) I'd get a significant portion of my loan paid off - which is great because law school has been very expensive!

Yesterday, I found out I got it! I still have to call back and accept it, but what a relief! The program itself is pretty prestigious and it's a blessing to be offered the fellowship.

Sunday, December 2, 2007



Yesterday, we got our first Christmas tree. It actually turned out to be much bigger than we had expected once we got it in the house, but we like it. (Well, I thought it would be much smaller. Cath says she knew!) It's hard to get a good picture of a tree with lights on it, so sorry this is a little blurry, but squint your eyes a bit and imagine you're here. It's great!

We listened to Christmas music, drank egg nog, and it even snowed outside while we decorated it.

The second picture's also a little hard to see, but it says "Our First Christmas." Cheesy? Yes. But, we embrace the cheese.